NEW LOOK FOR RAY
Scott Ray's Pro Mod Corvette will be sporting new graphics,
a new BAE 520, and a new aero package. No word yet on when
the car will debut, but the Agent thinks Norwalk Raceway
Park's Halloween Classic would be perfect. (illustration
by Burke Designs) [9-26-2005]
ODDY NOT MOVING TO CHARLOTTE
Although it has been speculated on the Internet that Jim
Oddy is moving his business and race team to the Charlotte
area, according to Oddy, that simply isn't the case.
"I don't know how these things get started,"
Oddy told the Agent. "I'm building a small vacation
cabin on a lake down there but I have no intention of moving
from Buffalo anytime soon. All of my family and my wife's
family live in the Buffalo area. My car chief and shop foreman,
Billy Leverentz, lives here and both my sons live here.
I'm not moving to the Carolinas." Okay, everyone clear
on this now? [9-26-2005]
ASHLEY PAYING ATTENTION TO NEW
RIDE
Defending NHRA AMS/TLR Pro Mod champion Mike Ashley began
a new phase of his racing career at this year's U.S. Nationals,
where he barely missed qualifying his new Skull Gear/Torco
Race Fuels-backed Monte Carlo for nitro Funny Car action
on raceday. He made the cut at the next race, though, by
qualifying 13th with a career-best 4.864 at 318.39 mph at
Maple Grove Raceway, near Reading, PA. Ashley lost traction
in the first round against Frank Pedregon on Sunday, but
we still found this comparison of his two rides worth passing
along:
"First of all, these
cars just start getting angry about the eighth mile. In
our Pro Mod cars, you put it in high gear and you're kind
of just looking for the finish line, waiting for the finish
line, but with this thing, you hit the eighth-mile mark,
the clutch locks up, and it starts to take off. If you're
not pointing straight you're in trouble because it picks
the front end off the ground and charges like it's angry
towards the finish line.
"Yesterday, we went 318 and they we're saying to me,
'Mike, it's amazing how you hit the chutes right at the
finish line,' and I said, 'Buddy, that's fear. I wanted
to click it off as fast as I can!'
"The bottom line is, when the chutes hit at 318 miles
an hour it's a completely different sensation than when
they hit at 230 miles an hour. They hit so hard that I thought
I was going to come out of the belts. I really felt that
way and I told the guys to make sure the belts are tight,
but in reality they were already as tight as they could
possibly be. I can tell you, that got my attention!"
(Ian Tocher photo) [9-26-2005]
